Conventionally, the different types of fastener elements referred to above (which will be described more fully in due course) are driven into an object and a support together, for example so as to secure the former to the latter, by means of a suitable pneumatic, electromechanical or entirely mechanical (spring-loaded) tacking appliance. Such appliances are designed traditionally to operate with a single type of fastener, i.e. a nail or pin or staple of precise shape and dimensions, so that in situations where there is a need to use dissimilar fasteners for different purposes, there must also be a number of separate appliances ready to hand, each able to operate with a particular type of fastener.
Clearly, such a constraint occasions notable cost disadvantages, and reflects a current state of the art whereby users needing to operate with more than one of the aforementioned types of fastener element are obliged also to purchase or acquire a different appliance for each type.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to overcome the drawback mentioned above by providing an appliance of the type in question that will operate universally with a variety of sharp pointed fastener elements, provided that all are of the same nominal size and strength.